by Douglas Robson, USA TODAY Sports

by Douglas Robson, USA TODAY Sports

WIMBLEDON, England - Rafael Nadal sat forward with a white cap pulled over his eyes and tried to digest another shocking exit at Wimbledon.

For the second year in a row, the Spaniard found himself on the wrong side of a defeat that will rank among the biggest upsets in Open era history.

"Nobody remember the loses," Nadal, turning philosophical, said. "People remember the victories. And I don't want to remember that (loss)."

Nadal might yet banish Monday's 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (10-8), 6-4 loss to Belgium's Steve Darcis from his mind. But it is not likely to fade quickly from public consciousness.

Last year 100th-ranked Lukas Rosol played a sizzling fifth set to beat Nadal in the second round. The 27-year-old from Mallorca later said he had been dealing with a knee injury and did not return to the tour for seven months.

Monday's defeat was more unexpected and more decisive. The two-time Wimbledon champion had never lost in the opening round of a major in 34 previous attempts.

Darcis, a 29-year-old journeyman had won one prior match at Wimbledon. At No. 135, he is the lowest-ranked player to defeat Nadal at a Grand Slam event.

"He's been the best player in the world this year, and that's with missing Australia, too," American John Isner said when he heard that Nadal, 43-2 this season, was on the verge of losing. "He's only lost two matches, right? I don't care what the surface is, it'll be a big shocker."

It was also troubling. Playing his first match since his record eighth Roland Garros championship and riding a 22-match winning streak, Nadal was clearly hobbled by an injury in the latter stages. Nadal stepped gingerly on his left leg at times and failed to track down balls that would normally be within his ability to retrieve.

Afterward, he deflected questions about his health and congratulated Darcis.

"He played a fantastic match, and everything I say about my knee today is an excuse and I don't like to put any excuses when I am losing a match like I lost today," he said.

But Nadal's long-term health returns again to center stage.

Nadal declined to specify what, if anything, was hurting. He grew unusually annoyed when he was asked several times about his subpar movement and his chronically injured knees.

"I think you are joking," he said at one point. "I answered this question three times or four times already."

Nadal could have been hurt by pulling out of the grasscourt tune-up at Halle, Germany, to rest after his long clay court campaign.

"Of course, he didn't play his best tennis," said Darcis, who scored a big upset against Tomas Berdych in the first round of the London Olympics last summer on Wimbledon's Centre Court. "But I knew it is the first match on grass for him. Me, I played already four. So I think it helped me today."

Since his return, Nadal has played 10 events (counting Wimbledon, reached nine finals and won seven titles, and logged 45 matches, just three shy of the ATP Tour leader David Ferrer (37-11).

Nadal refused to second-guess his schedule, which he had already tweaked by skipping March's more concussive hard court event in Miami.

"Six hours ago was a perfect calendar, now is a very negative calendar," Nadal said.

ESPN's Brad Gilbert agreed.

"It's a lot healthier on his body playing on clay than hardcourt," he said.

What's become clear is that it is becoming more difficult for Nadal to transition quickly from clay to grass, even though he won the French Open and Wimbledon back-to-back in 2008 and 2010.

The lower bounce on grass puts more stress on the knee since it forces players to bend down and up repeatedly.

"I don't think it's actually length of his schedule at that time of the year," Tennis Channel's Rennae Stubbs said of his busy spring. "Grass puts much more pressure on your quads. It is a really hard transition for somebody with knee problems."

Paring back his schedule in the period leading up to Wimbledon isn't a great option either, since the 11-time major winner's best chance to win more are at Roland Garros.

Nadal said focusing on one major wasn't an option.

"In this sport, I don't see a way that you can prepare (for) one tournament in particular," he argued. "I think you don't have that chance because depends on a lot of things. You need to win matches when you arrive to important tournament to be confident. You need to play matches to be enough fit."

He predicted he would back much sooner than his defeat here last year.

"Not that late, for sure," Nadal said.

The loss alters the dynamic of the tournament.

Seeded fifth because of his extended absence, much was made of Nadal's potential quarterfinal matchup against defending champion Roger Federer.

â?˘Former champion Lleyton Hewitt upset 11th-seeded Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland 6-4, 7-5, 6-3. Playing his 15th consecutive Wimbledon and his 57th Grand Slam overall, the 2002 champion made the most of his opponent's mistakes to progress. Wawrinka had 44 unforced errors and exited the tournament in the first round for the fifth time.

â?˘Maria Sharapova had a tough first set but survived a test from Kristina Mladenovic of France 7-6 (7-5), 6-3.

â?˘2011 champion Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic needed three sets, but she advanced, 6-1, 5-7, 6-4 vs. CoCo Vandeweghe of the USA.